Monday, June 13, 2016

From US News-Pope Francis scathingly decried the pursuit for perfect bodies on Sunday, saying such obsession leads to society hiding away the disabled to avoid offending sensibilities of what he termed "the privileged few."

In St. Peter's Square, Francis celebrated Mass dedicated to disabled people and their caregivers, then spent time chatting with and hugging many of them at the end of the service.

"It is thought that sick or disabled persons cannot be happy, since they cannot live the lifestyle held up by the culture of pleasure and entertainment," Francis said in his homily. "In an age when care for one's body has become an obsession and a big business, anything that is imperfect has to be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model."